This invention relates to a spinning machine having a plurality of spinning stations arranged at least on one side of the machine in a row next to one another, a depositing site for a can containing a sliver to be spun being assigned to each spinning station.
In the case of a ring spinning machine, it is known (German Patent Document DE-Patent 817 572) to assign four to eight spinning stations to a can which correspondingly contains four to eight slivers. These cans are deposited in the machine center in an elevated manner, in which case a transport belt may serve as the depositing sites by means of which the cans deposited in several rows are to be transported to the machine end after an emptying.
It is also known (German Patent DD-Patent 107 952) to arrange in the machine center of a spinning machine a transport belt which is constructed as a link conveyor which transports cans in a continuous cycle which can in each case be transferred to two depositing sites which are each assigned to one spinning station. In the case of this construction, correspondingly small cans are required so that the sliver to be spun is transferred by means of a transfer device from large cans into small cans. The transport belt which is constructed as a link conveyor is equipped with receiving devices which each engage in a can bottom. These pin-type receiving devices are arranged at a distance which corresponds the machine spacing and to twice the machine spacing.
It is an object of the invention to construct a spinning machine of the initially mentioned type in such a manner that the supplying of full cans and the removal of empty cans is facilitated.
This object is achieved according to preferred embodiments of the invention in that a transport device for the introducing of full cans and for the removal of empty cans is provided which extends into the longitudinal direction of the spinning machine and contains a conveying run of a transport belt which extends in the longitudinal direction of the machine and is provided with projecting take-along cams which engage in recesses of the can bottoms.
By means of this development, it is possible to feed full cans to the spinning machines in which case, because of the take-along cams, they are in defined positions at which they can easily be taken over by an operator or by an automatic arrangement. During the removal, the empty cans are in defined separate positions on the transport belt so that they can also easily be removed by an operator or by an automatic arrangement and can be conveyed.
In a further development of the invention, it is provided that the transport belt is integrated in a platform which is preferably arranged above the pertaining spinning machine. In this case, it is advantageous for the conveying run of the transport belt to extend on the top side of the platform, and for the returning run of the transport belt to extend on the bottom side of the platform. Such a transport belt represents no significant obstacle which could interfere with the mobility of an operator or an automatic machine.
In a further development, it is provided that the conveying run of the transport belt is supported by a slideway. The slideway will then also take over essentially the vertical supporting of the cans so that the transport belt must essentially apply only the take-along forces.
In a further development of the invention, it is provided that the take-along cams of the transport belt have a button-shaped or lens-shaped convex design. Such take-along cams generate a satisfactory take-along connection with respect to the cans in order to guide them precisely on the transport belt and to position them. In addition, the cans nevertheless can be relatively easily slid off the transport belt by way of the take-along cams. Furthermore, such take-along cams make it possible that the cans can be transferred in a simple manner to transversely extending transport belts and can then be removed by these, particularly at the end of the transport belt.
In a further development of the invention, it is provided that the width of the transport belt is less than the diameter of the cans. In this case, it is expediently provided that guiding elements for the cans are arranged laterally of the transport belt.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.